Category: My Dad’s Life As I Know It

Welcome back everyone. Sorry to be delayed in posting part two of the life of Nornal Hule Waters. Had an incident with my grandson that needed my attention. He, my grandson, loves to get into everything even when he’s been told a million times (at least it seems that many) not to get into certain things like the kitchen drawers, for example. Yesterday, he managed to get into the kitchen drawers and proceeded to take things out. Now here’s where the problem came into effect. One of the drawers he opened was the knife drawer. Yes, that’s right, you heard me correctly. He not only opened the knife drawer, but also took out a knife and hence cut himself. This was all before his mom or I got up for the day. He came into my room with blood all over his hand. Thus, the delay in writing this post. Sorry for any inconvenience and the delay.

We left off last time with Nornal being discharged from the Navy and beginning to work for Pearson Ford. Also, we discussed his marriage in 1951 and the birth of his son in 1953. Today, we pick up from there. Nornal was not used to big city life, and he missed his family. That being the case, in 1954 or 1955 (I’m not sure which) He decided to pack up his wife and son and move them approximately 2,414 miles (maybe more the current interstates were not built yet) across the country from the west coast to the east coast to live near his family. They bought a house at Walnut Street down the road from his parents’ home. They lived there around four years give or take. While living in Great Falls, South Carolina he worked for the local Ford dealership where he worked before joining the Navy. They visit the beach, went to church every Sunday and interacted with his family on a regular basis.

On May 19, 1956, along came a daughter with blonde hair and light brown eyes. [ In case you were wondering, that’s me.] Nornal thought everything was going smoothly and his wife was adjusting to living in a small southern town. However, she was not adjusting to the small southern town lifestyle, and she missed her family back in San Diego.

It was during the spring of 1958 that he and his family moved back to California. He packed his wife and children aboard a train and sent them off to San Diego, California. Meanwhile, he loaded up their belonging into a truck (not sure if it would have been a U-Haul or something similar) and drove himself and their belongings across the country leaving the east coast and his parents and siblings behind.

After arriving back in San Diego, they moved into a sub-portion of his wives’ parents’ home. Their place was attached but had separate living areas and entrances. They shared the garage space and laundry facilities located under the home. The washer that was used by Doyce Eileen (she preferred to go by her middle name) was an old wringer washer and the clothes were all hung up on a clothesline to dry. They continued to live next to Eileen’s parents until they were able to purchase their own home in 1960.

The house they purchased was located on South Meadowbrook Drive. It was newly built in 1960. They became they property’s first owners. It was a single-family residential home on a 7,100 sq. ft. lot. The house itself was 1,029 sq. ft. It had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, plus the living room, dining area, and kitchen. It also had an attached garage with a door that led into the kitchen. It had a good-sized fenced backyard. The average home cost in 1960 was around $11,900. The same house is valued at $696,731 in today’s market.

Nornal and his family lived in the home on S Meadowbrook until the Summer of 1968. [This is the home I lived in while attending elementary school.] That summer Nornal and Eileen purchased a home in the Allied Gardens area of San Diego. It was a four-bedroom home, but the front bedroom was converted into a dining room. Nornal lived in this home until the day he passed from this life.

Throughout the years, approximately every three to four years, Nornal and his family would travel across country on vacation, during the summer, to visit his mom and dad and siblings. [I enjoyed these trips, more so as I grew older] Every trip we took across country by car, he would plan for us to visit something historical and something fun. One year we visited Mount Vernon and we visited Six Flags over Georgia. We toured Washington D.C., visited Stone Mountain in Georgia, Six Flags over Texas, Tweetsie Railroad in North Carolina, and various other places. I do not recall them all, I just remember he insisted we visit something of historical significance and not just something fun on every trip we took.

Nornal was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer, in 1994, (maybe sooner, I’m not sure). His cancer spread into his limb nodes and eventually into his bones. Nornal and Eileen did not travel much after his Cancer diagnosis. He underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments. However, the affects took a toll on his body, and did not completely rid his body of cancer. After a two-year battle struggling to fight cancer, he lost the battle and left for his home in glory. [I will never forget the evening he left this world behind; I miss him every day.]

He did live to see me have children and had a small amount of time to interact with them. I will always treasure the photos of him with my children.

Thank you for visiting and listening to me recall my dad’s life on the anniversary of his birth. God Bless. Love your family, forgive them, and always keep communication open. You never know when your last day will be to connect with them.